I learned some time ago to discount most of the hype surrounding highly anticipated films, and just try to take them as I see them. As a result, I thoroughly enjoyed The Phantom Menace. O.K, maybe it seemed just a bit too "kiddified" and some of the little plot twists were rather contrived. As well, none of the characters had the screen presence of a Han Solo or A Princess Leia. But on the whole it was a pretty good film. It did not lack a plot as a number of other folks have claimed, but in my opinion had no more nor less plot than any of the other films in the series. Try and keep in mind that this is ONLY Star Wars, not Shakespeare in space. It's really only supposed to be fun and entertaining, not a life changing experience. The simplest and most basic endorsement I can give is to say that I've seen it twice, enjoyed it more the second time, and look forward to my next viewing.
